Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes, but that is not going to happen in a dramatic way, it will happen in a controlled way.

We spend nearly €10 million per year supporting the World Food Programme, WFP. To be clear, some people seem to think that I if I did not spend that money thus, I would be able to spend the €10 million on farmers but that is not the case. This is part of the Government's contribution towards development aid. If we did not spend that €10 million, then the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade would have to spend €10 million more and we would spend €10 million less. It is in a separate category in terms of our budget so it is not a question of me taking money from farmers, from agriculture or from fishermen and giving it to the WFP. We have a very close connection with the WFP because of our understanding of food development issues. That is why my Department has traditionally spent money in this way.

Regarding Deputy Heydon's comments on the beef industry, clearly we will have a better year this year than we had last year in the sector. A lot of people have said that the only reason the beef price is up is that the kill is down but that is not true. We have been killing over 30,000 animals for the last number of weeks. If anything, the kill so far this year is slightly up on last year. That said, the anticipated number of slaughtered animals this year will be 110,000 to 120,000 less than last year. That is the indication that we have at present, in terms of calves coming through and so forth.

The combination of killing fewer animals, opening new markets and less availability of beef generally across the EU should mean that we should have strong pricing through this year, but one never knows with beef. Things can change quite quickly. I would be hopeful that we will have a very strong year this year. Certainly farmers are anticipating that we will have a very strong year. They are spending a lot of money on store animals at the moment. A lot of farmers have said to me that they simply cannot get animals in marts at the moment in terms of the prices being commanded. That worries me a little because it means that if the price weakens then people who have bought animals for a lot of money are exposed. That said, farmers need to make their own business decisions.

From my perspective, we will continue to work within the beef forum and with farming organisations and the industry to maintain as healthy a beef market as we can. The big thing we will do between now and the summer is to produce a recommended structure for beef producer organisations which will be able legally to negotiate price with factories under the new Common Agricultural Policy. That will change fundamentally the relationship between farmers and factories for the better. One will have farmer-owned producer organisations who might be negotiating with factories on behalf of 1,000 beef farmers. They will have real volume to negotiate with around price, spec and market conditions. It will be a two-way communications as they will also be able to communicate with their farmers in terms of what kind of animal and what spec, age and weight will get them the maximum price. Likewise, they will be able to negotiate aggressively with factories in a way that moves us away from farmers being simply price takers. This will allow farmers to negotiate collectively on a legal basis. That is not the case at the moment for farming organisations. It will make a difference.

We will be supporting live exports also. Deputy Michael McNamara has been very vocal on this issue. Live exports were up approximately 18% last year across the range from breeding heifers, to calves, weanlings and finished animals. We will continue to facilitate live exports to ensure that the prices being paid in Ireland are competitive and provide farmers with decent value in terms of the margin that is there.

On the horse and greyhound fund, the equine industry is unusual in Ireland. It is an international industry. If we allow funding to fall below a certain level for a sustained period of time, Ireland will lose its place as one of the foremost horse racing countries in the world. That is from a breeding point of view as well as from an events and racing point of view. If we do not have prize money that attracts the top horses to race here, we will find ourselves in the second tier of countries in racing and that would be a disaster on a series of fronts, including employment, income, exports of thoroughbreds and so on. I am glad therefore that on the back of getting an extra €25 million into the Exchequer from taxing online bets, we are going to allocate €16 million to the horse and greyhound fund. That will bring the industry very close to where it was in the so-called boom times when there was a very strong fund. It is a very positive development. We are also introducing new horse racing legislation to ensure the money is spent in a way that is transparent, effective and appropriate.

Regarding horse welfare, an extra €1 million in capital investment is being made. We have increased funding for the control of horses from €1.6 million to €2.6 million but the extra €1 million is for a specific purpose. I have written to local authorities to ask them to make proposals for capital investment projects to address welfare for urban horse populations. That means managed stables, grazing facilities and yards to enable us to run education programmes for young people who are very attached to horses in a managed and controlled environment. We cannot continue to accept horses in back gardens, public areas, NAMA-owned land or parks in city centres. From a welfare point of view, it is totally unacceptable. It is also totally unacceptable from a legal point of view as people must have registered premises now for equines and animals must be microchipped and have passports.

We need to know and understand where our horses are and who owns them. Currently, there are too many horses outside the system and we will change that. There will be a stick and there will be carrot. The carrot is that we will pay for projects in different parts of the country. We are hoping to facilitate four this year, which will probably be attached to four cities. The best proposals will get the money.

Hopefully, we will facilitate another four next year. For example, if Traveller families have horses that are not in an equine registered premises there may be an option for us to work with local authorities to ensure that their horses are kept in a more controlled environment where we can put supports and education programmes in place and so on. This will involve not only Traveller families but others who have horses in an urban environment. I believe that will be a good initiative and I am anxious to progress it.

I believe I have answered most of Deputy Deering's questions which covered the green, low-carbon, agri-environmental scheme, GLAS, farm safety, targeted, agricultural modernisaiton schemes, TAMS, the control of horses and the Commission on Economic Development of Rural Areas, CEDRA, report. We are trying to reduce the level of bureaucracy. For example, one can only apply for GLAS online and one has to do so by going through a planner. That has made a significant difference in terms of reducing the bureaucracy for farmers. The people who do the form filling and the loading up of maps are the planners and one pays the planner to do that.

In terms of hen harrier designated lands, I have put considerable thought into this issue to try to be helpful for those affected by it. Up until now fewer than 400 farmers affected by hen harrier land designations have got any form of payment or compensation. Those farmers and landowners would have got a payment of somewhere between €5,000 to €12,000 and in the very high cases, they might have got up to €14,000 but that would involve a very small number. We anticipate that all 4,000 farmers who have been affected by hen harrier land designations will be able to come into GLAS and they will qualify for GLAS plus. Therefore many of them will get a payment of €7,000 per hectare. Instead of spending a relatively small amount of money on a relatively small number of people, we could be spending somewhere between €25 million and €28 million on the consequences of hen harrier designation in terms of a payment that recognises the restrictions on farmers and therefore the reduced capacity for income from their farmland.

I cannot do everything to provide for those affected by hen harrier designations. Another Department designated those lands and put the scheme in place on the back of those designations. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has more money than the National Parks and Wildlife Service and, effectively, we are creating a separate category in GLAS for special areas of conservation and designated areas and giving a recognition payment for the limited activity that can happen on much of that designated land. That means that 3,500 or more farmers whose lands have been designated, for which they did not receive any payment previously, will now be able to get up to €7,000 without having to do anything apart from putting in place a basic GLAS plan which recognises the restriction applying to their land on the back of the designation It is a big step forward. If there are other things that can or should be done, they would need to be examined, but in the context of GLAS, that is as far as we could go. We could not get agreement on a higher payment than €7,000. We are doing what we can to recognise the hen harrier designation issue, which is significantly more than was done in the past, and this will represent a significant chunk of the overall GLAS provision. If we were to do any more, other farmers who want to access GLAS would have a big difficulty with it.

On the Chairman's questions regarding the locally-led environmental schemes, I hope we will be able to get that competitive process up and running this year. I know there is a significant interest in that in Wicklow. There is also a significant interest in it in other areas. A number of island communities have also expressed an interest in it. That will involve a competitive process and the best submissions will get the money. This is like the Burren scheme, with which Deputy McNamara will be familiar.

The Chairman also asked about the discussion groups and how much farmers will be asked to pay. The important aspect of the discussion groups must be the quality of the learning in them as opposed to just paying somebody to turn up. If we are to get good people in to give farmers the information they need to farm better and more profitably and sustainably, that costs money and that is the basis for the payment. We will try to keep that cost as low we can and I will talk to Teagasc about it.

There have been all kinds of figures thrown out, some are not accurate and some are reasonably accurate. I will push Teagasc as hard as I can to make sure it pushes and organises the discussion groups at as competitive a price as possible, but ultimately farmers will have to pay for that. Otherwise I will have to reduce the amount of money that goes to farmers and give it to Teagasc to fund the schemes. One cannot count the same money twice.